Burners, also referred to as flares, are used across a wide range of industries to combust flammable gases. The applications of burners are broad. For example, burners may be used as part of a safety system to combust gases released by pressure relief valves or other safety equipment during plant upset conditions. A burner may also be used to combust process byproducts that may not be economically feasible to transport and/or store for later use. For example, in the oil and gas industry, production of crude oil from an oil well generally results in the simultaneous production of natural gas. This natural gas may be reinjected into the oil well to maintain well pressure or transported and stored at a separate location for later use. However, remote and offshore production facilities may lack a connection to a pipeline or other system for transporting and storing the natural gas. Therefore any excess natural gas that cannot be reinjected or otherwise used at the production facility is generally sent to a burner to be combusted.
The flame produced by a burner may be large and intense and may pose a significant risk to nearby personnel and equipment. Compounding the danger associated with the burner flame's size and intensity is the fact that most burners combust gases to atmosphere and, as a result, the burner flame is exposed to wind and other air flows. As these air flows impinge upon the burner flame, the burner flame and the heat it produces may be directed towards undesirable locations, such as those in which equipment is installed or that are accessible by personnel. In light of these potential safety concerns, a system for minimizing the effects of impinging air flows is desirable.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted and described and are defined by reference to exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, such references do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.